Sheet metal rolling machine



Sept. 28, 1948.

Filed March 16, 1946 Fig.1

A. L. GROVES SHEET METAL ROLLING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 14,.11. Groves MWL.

Sept. 28, 1948. A. 1.. GROVES 2,450,041

SHEET METAL ROLLING MACHINE Filed March 16, 1946 s Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

H.L.Groues BY QTTYS Sept. 28, 1948.

INVENTOR. Hull. Groves Z 242, ML

HTTYS Patented Sept. 28, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHEET METAL ROLLING MACHINE Albert L. Groves, Farmington, Calif. Application March 16, 1946, Serial N 0. 654,976

3 Claims.

This invention relates in general to an improved sheet metal rolling machine adapted to roll sheet metal to impart a radius thereto as is done in the manufacture of stove pipes, tubular ventilation ducts, and the like.

vOne object of the present invention is to provide a sheet metal rolling machine which is designed so that the intended curvature is imparted to a sheet of metal with one pass through the machine, the machine being operative to curve the sheet from edge to edge thereof leaving no unbent portion, along either edge, requiring subsequent bending.

Another'object of the invention is to provide a sheet metal rolling machine which is adjustable, readily and quickly, to roll sheet metal to different radii, and such machine is also adjustable to accommodate metal sheets of difierent gauges.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sheet metal rolling machine which comprises a novel combination of a work supporting bed, an idler roller, and a cooperating driven feed roller; said [elements of the machine being arranged so that the sheet of metal is worked by the cooperating rollers at a point closely adjacent the delivery end of the table which permits of proper support of the work and bending thereof from edge to edge without leaving any material unbent portion along either edge.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sheet metal rolling machine which is'practical and effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects are accomplished by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved sheet metal rolling machine.

Fig. 2 is'a fragmentary transverse elevation, mainly in section, of the adjustable roller assemy- Fig. 3 is across section taken through the work supporting bed.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary cross section illustrating the roller assembly and the adjacent or delivery end portion of the work supporting bed; the drive roller being shown in fully retracted position.

Fig. 5 is a similar view, but shows the drive roller and bed as fully advanced.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, the improved sheet'metal rolling machine comprises a rigid, upstanding table or main frame I fitted on top with a work supporting bed 2 which is mounted for longitudinal adjustment by means of guide channels 3 on the bed which cooperatively engage with longitudinal tongues 4 on the main frame I.

The work supporting bed 2 may be adjusted lengthwise by any suitable means. At one end the bed 2 includes a relatively thin, outwardly projecting delivery lip 5.

At the end of the main frame I adjacent the delivery lips 5, the machine includes a pair of transverse cooperating sheet metal rollers disposed one above the other in parallel relationship; the upper roller 6 being an idler, while the lower roller l is driven. The mounting and operation of the rollers 6 and I is described in detail hereinafter.

The working face of the driven lower roller 1 is serrated, as shown, and isnormally disposed in peripheral working contact with the upper, idler roller 6; the delivery lip 5 of the work supporting 2 terminating at its outer edge in very close relationship to said point of peripheral working contact of the lower roller with the upper roller.

The main frame I is fitted, beyond opposite ends of the rollers 6 and 1, with rigid, upstanding heads 8, each of which is provided, on the outside, with a vertically adjustable slide 9 carried in vertical guide channels H] on opposite sides of said heads. The slides 9 are adjustable by screws i I which extend upwardly through outwardly projecting flanges E2 on the lower ends of the heads 8. The screws II are used not only to level the upper, idler roller 6 but to adjust said roller relative to the plane of the delivery lip 5, as is necessary for working in connection with sheet metal of different gauges.

The upper, idler roller 6 is supported at opposite ends by bearings, indicated at I 3 and I4, respectively; the bearing l3 being hinged, as at I5, in connection with the corresponding slide 9, for swinging movement in a vertical plane. The other bearing I4 is releasably held in engagement with the corresponding slide 9 by a removable hold-down yoke l6 actuated by an off-center type latch I! mounted on said corresponding slide. It willbe seen that with release and removal of the hold-down yoke Hi from the bearing l4, that the upper, idler roller 6 mayswing upwardly about the pivot I 5 so asto move clear of the lower, drive roller 1, and as is necessary to permit removal of tubular Work from said idler roller 6.'a's will'subsequently appear. As the upper,

' idler roller Bis relatively heavy, the shaft I8 of said roller is extended at one end and connected by a rotary collar unit I 9 with a tensioned counterbalancing spring 20 which connects at its lower end to a suitable point on the main frame. This arrangement 'makes it much easier for the operator to lift the upper, idler roller 6 for re moval of the work.

The lower, drive roller 1 is supported, at opposite ends, by bearings 2| carried on the free ends of inwardly projecting legs 22 of bellcranks, indicated generally at 23; such bellcranks each ineluding an elongated, depending leg 24 disposed outwardly of the adjacent end of the upstanding main frame i.

The pivot for these bellcranks 2-3 comprises, in each thereof, an eccentric circular cam 25 fixed on a transverse shaft 26 which is adjustably sup ported, at its ends, on ears 2;! which project outwardly from the head 3. The adjustable shaft 26 includes a square end for the placement of a wrench thereon and is normally held against rotation by locking nuts, as shown. Each bellerank 23 includes an eccentric strap 28 which encircles the correspondin cam 25. Each depending leg 2A is normally urged inwardly toward the upstanding main frame 1 by a tension spring 29 connected between the lower end of such leg 'andthe frame'there being an adjustable stop 30 for each leg '25 to limit the extent of such swinging motion of said corresponding leg.

The lower, drive roller 1 is driven at one end by an endless chain and sprocket unit 3| from a reduction unit '32 driven by a motor mounted in the upstanding main frame I. A chain tightener 34 cooperates with the chain to maintain the same under proper tension regardless of the posi 'tion of adjustment of the lower, drive roller 1.

The lower, drive roller 1 is adjustable from its fully retracted position, as shown in Fig. 4, to its fully advanced position, as shown in Fig. 5, by rotation of the shaft 26 and the cams 25; the springs 29 maintaining sa'idlower roller in working engagement with the upper roller in all positions of adjustment of said lower roller.

When the upper and lower rollers are in direct vertical a1inement,-as in Fig. 4, no bending of a sheet of metal passed therebetween would result, and the extent of the bend or the radius of the bend is controlled by the advanced position of adjustment of the lower, drive roller 1. As the lower, drive roller 1 is advanced by adjustment thereof, the point of peripheral working contact of said drive roller with the idler roller is elevated-on the side of the idler roller opposite the work supporting bed-relative to said bed so that the radius of the'bend whichwill be Simpartedlto sheet metal work passing therethrough is progressively reduced.

In operation of the machine, the lower, drive roller I is first adjustedto produce a bend of desired radiusin the work, and thereafter'the "work supportin bed 2 is adjusted so that the delivery lip 5 is disposed closely adjacent said point of peripheral working contact. .At all times the bed is substantially tangential to the idler rollerat the "low pointof the latter.

Thereafter, the lower roller is driven in the direction indicated and the sheet metal work fed from the bed 2 01f the delivery lip 5 and between the rollers rat the point 'of peripheral working contact thereof, which point is indicated, forexample, at 35 in Fig. 5. With continued rotation of the lower, drive roller the work feeds upwardly and has the desired curvature or bend imparted thereto. As the delivery lip -5 .isclose to the point of peripheral working contact, the bend is imparted to the sheet to substantially the "trailing edge thereof, thu completing the entire 'bend on the work with one pass through the machine.

As each piece of work is rolled to tubular form, the machine is stopped, the upper, idler roller 6 released and elevated at one end, as previously described, and the work slipped therefrom.

With thedescribed sheet metal rollin machine, tubular work can be rolled from fiat stock rapidly, effectively, and economically; the machine being s'till in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, the followin is claimed as new and useful and upon which Letters Patent are desired:

'1. A sheet metal rolling machine comprising an upstanding frame, a work supporting bed on the frame, said bedhaving a delivery end, a pair of transverse, cooperating rollers, means mounting the rollers on the frame one above the other and directly beyond the delivery end of the bed,

said delivery end of the bed being closely adjacent and substantially tangential to the upper roller at the low point thereof, the lower roller being mounted for adjustment to alter the peripherai working point thereof circumferentially of the upper roller on the side of the latter opposite the bed and above said low point, and means operative to drive a roller of the pair in a direction turning away from the bed at such peripheral working point; the lower roller mounting means comprising a pair of upstanding parallel bell crank levers, the lower roller being journaled at its ends on corresponding legs of the bell crank levers, means pivotally mounting said levers intermediate their ends in connection with the frame for swinging lengthwise of the latter and for adjustment in the same direction, and yieldable means connected to the bell crank levers and acting thereon in a direction to urge the lower roller toward the upper roller.

'2. A sheet metal rolling machine, as in claim 1 in which the bell crank lever mounting means comprises a transverse shaft, said shaft being normally non-rotatable but rotatably adjustably mounted, circular eccentric cams on the shaft, and an eccentric strap on each bell crank lever intermediate its ends surrounding one of said cams in cooperative relation.

.3. .A sheet metal rollin machine comprising a frame, a work supporting bed on the frame, a roller journaled on the frame forwardly of and above the bed, an adjustable cam shaft mounted on the frame, cams on the shaft, straps surrounding the cams, projecting arms on the straps, a roller jour-naled in the outer ends of the arms and held in peripheral engagement with the first roller, and means to drive one of said rollers in a direction turning away from the forward edge of the work supporting bed.

ALBERT L. GROVES.

nnrnnnncns orrnn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 251,804 Steinbach Jan. 3, 1882 1,406,004 'Hahnemann Feb. 7, 1922 1,486,975 Lindgren Mar, 18, 1924 1,735,243 Hahnem'ann Nov. 12, 1929 '1,'7 5'0,4' 71 Hoover Mar. 11, 1930 

